New campaign finance reports show 199 active candidates running for the Idaho Legislature are sitting on a combined cash balance of $3.45 million with three weeks until Election Day.

Candidates must file campaign finance disclosure reports by the 10th of each month with all contributions and expenses through the end of the previous month. The reports filed Oct. 10 are the last complete numbers we will have before the Nov. 3 election. Here’s what the latest reports show, according to data on Idaho Sunshine and candidate filing information on VoteIdaho.gov.

Quick facts

• 102 Republicans have $2.48 million in cash
• 86 Democrats have $922,922 in cash
• 7 independents have $49,423 in cash
• 3 Constitution candidates have $168 in cash
• 1 Libertarian has not raised any money
• 13 candidates are unopposed
• 16 races have no incumbent on the ballot
• 5 candidates have withdrawn since the May primaries
• 3 challengers have more cash than their incumbents

Top 10 war chests

Here are the 10 candidates with the most cash on hand, as of Monday.

Top two districts with most money to spend

The two districts with the largest war chests — by far — neighbor each other in the Treasure Valley. One is competitive, and one is not.

The six candidates running in District 15, in west Boise, have a combined $357,288 in the bank. It’s a true swing district, with two Republicans and one Democrat in office this year, and it includes the incumbent with the most contributions and most cash on hand.

Rep. Steve Berch, D-Boise, has raised $249,165 this cycle across a staggering 2,722 separate contributions, for an average donation of $91.54. For a comparison, the candidate with the second most contributions — Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon — has raised $135,351 across 214 contributions, an average of $632.48.

Berch has $153,061 in his war chest and faces Republican Steve Keyser, who has raised $21,254 and has $10,179 in cash.

In the race for Senate, Democrat Nancy Gregory and Republican Desi Burbank both have money to spend in the coming weeks. Gregory has raised $70,063 with $55,400 in cash. Burbank has raised $59,035 with $46,852 in the bank.

Their neighbors to the north in District 14, which includes Eagle and Emmett, come in second place with a combined $324,805 in the bank.

But Sen. Scott Grow, and Reps. Ted Hill and Josh Tanner represent a reliably red district. Grow won re-election in 2024 with 85% of the vote, and Tanner received 76% in his race.

Grow, Hill and Tanner have a combined $320,820 in the bank. Their opponents — Kirsten Richardson, Jo Daly and Valerie Ruxton, respectively — have a combined $3,985.

Being a long-serving incumbent with scant competition has its advantages. Grow, running for a sixth term, started out the 2026 cycle with a rollover balance of $120,900 from 2024. Tanner, running for a third term, carried over $82,035 from the last election.

Five dropouts

Five general election contenders have withdrawn since the May primaries, making life easier for their opponents:

• Sen. Christy Zito, R-Mountain Home, will cruise into re-election following a tight, three-way primary. Democrat John Garrett has withdrawn from the District 8 race.
• Sen. Treg Bernt, R-Meridian, faces no competition at all this year in District 21. He was unopposed in the primary, and Democrat Brenda Quick withdrew in August.
• Republican Brent Reinke, a Twin Falls County commissioner, defeated Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld, R-Twin Falls, in the primary and was poised to face two opponents in November. But Anna Scholes, a trustee for the College of Southern Idaho, withdrew in August after raising no money. Reinke faces Democrat Mary Durfee in the reliably Republican District 24.
• Rep. Chris Bruce, R-Kuna, was also expecting a three-way race in November. But Democrat Emily Fisher withdrew in August. Bruce will face Constitution Party candidate Paul Smith, who has raised no money, in District 23.
• Republican Chance Requa defeated Rep. Steve Miller, R-Fairfield, in a three-way primary in District 24, but is now unopposed in the general election. Democrat Enrique Salas Viernes withdrew in September.

Challengers with more cash than incumbents

As of Monday, three challengers have larger war chests than their incumbent opponents.

The most notable of those is the District 6 race between Rep. Brandon Mitchell, R-Moscow, and Democrat Kathy Dawes.

Dawes has more than three times as much cash as Mitchell, giving her an opportunity to hit the airwaves and streets with ads and signs. She has raised $69,166 with $57,345 in the bank, compared with Mitchell’s $32,232 in donations and $17,519 in cash.

But she had more money than Mitchell in 2024 and still lost by 16 percentage points. Two years ago, Dawes raised $82,959 to Mitchell’s $56,640.

Democrats consider District 6 a swing district, but voter registration figures show Republicans have been gaining ground since 2022.

In two other races, independent candidate Kathryn Larson has $6,500 more cash than Rep. Cornell Rasor, R-Sagle, in deep-rep District 1. Another independent candidate, Kevin Moxley, has a slight edge over District 24 Rep. Clint Hostetler, R-Twin Falls. Moxley has $11,941 in cash compared with Hostetler’s $9,477.